Sunday, January 12, 2014

Out of chaos

For most of last year I grouched about how much 'stuff' we have upstairs and in the basement. Seven years of hunting and gathering accumulations have created unnecessary obstacles to trip over, mystery boxes sliding off of shelves as we hunt for seasonal props and other shelves filled with 'one-offs' I couldn't bear to throw away. As the year went on, these items swelled up the stairs and by Thanksgiving we were inching around baskets of ribbon and cases of containers, rabbit gates and bags of rabbit litter and kibble. I was waiting for a 'Hoarders' invitation.

Our twist and slide maneuvers went out of control during our last wedding in December, yet we powered through without time to to address our space issues.

During our Christmas break I drew lots diagrams of the shop (really bad ones) but slowly got the feel of what we needed to do. The residue of all my planning had boiled into one basic solution: move our retail counter forward ten inches.

In all the time we've been on Beacon Street, I've never had a proper desk, we've run down to the basement to nuke our soup and the electric kettle sat on the design bench with my laptop, bills, receipts and wedding proposals.

We switched table tops for the bench, moved that counter forward, switched some tables from back to front and front to back, put some 'stuff' out on the sidewalk and brought up the microwave.

Ten inches doesn't seem like a lot, but it has given us enough room to walk around the design table which we've never before been able to do. Because I have no drafting skills, I usually just move stuff before I'll know if it will fit and this time wasn't any different, so the success of my idea is making me a bit giddy. The design table has nothing but flowers and tools on it, my desk has nothing but my laptop and file, the kitchen is consolidated and everyone has access to it (without walking around one side of the table), the trash is organized against the wall and even the rabbits seem happier. Max has taken to sitting on the bottom shelf of the desk and ZuZu is out more, rather than beneath the counter.

3 comments:

I am green with envy right now because my basement, at home, is piled up with stuff and I keep saying I've got to get rid of things (junk) but don't. I look at it and I'm overwhelmed. Maybe you have inspired me!